Debris a risk before brush fire season

For more than three weeks, Southwest Florida communities have been dealing with piles of dead foliage and drying debris ripped out of the ground and off of trees by Hurricane Irma.

But fire officials say it's the debris you don't see piled on the side of the road that could pose the biggest threat during the upcoming peak fire season.

"We're seeing a lot of downed trees, a lot of debris, and what that's done is actually increase the vegetation or debris in these vacant lots, what we call wildland-urban interface areas," explained Samantha Quinn, a wildfire mitigation specialist with the Florida Forest Service's Caloosahatchee Forestry Center. "You'll see a vacant lot, next to a structure. Because of that, it increases the risk for the homeowners and the structure, and the safety of first responders."

Quinn said a lot of the debris on private, vacant lots is going to stay there drying out, before eventually being covered by new growth. Officials are already concerned about the problems in wildland-urban interfaces like Lehigh Acres and Golden Gate Estates.

"So now add in there all that dry, dead vegetation on top of [existing growth], those are all gonna be just adding to what a fire could do," she said.

To mitigate the danger in these areas, crews are working to create a GPS map of some of the dangerous wooded areas.

Crews are surveying from the air and on the ground to identify areas with lots of downed trees.

"When we have it marked out we can say, hey we're going to be entering this wildfire, it's in this area, we know there's a lot of downed trees here, so we need two to three dozers immediately to go there," Quinn explained.

They'll also be aware of trees and stumps that may not be visible in the near future as new growth comes in. Quinn said bulldozers can actually get stuck on tree stumps as they work to clear fire breaks.

"We're just trying to get as much information from all angles, so we can make sure everybody stays safe," she said.

Officials say it's more important this year than ever to be prepared for peak fire season by clearing 30 feet of defensible space from around your home, and clearing any dead leaves or debris from your gutters or near your property.

You may also want to consider roof repairs if you're in a high-risk fire area.

"Whenever you have a wildfire, embers can spot. If they're hitting the wood roof that doesn't have a shingle, there's potential a roof could catch on fire and then we're having to try and save your structure as well," Quinn said.